Longhorns’ Brown picked 32nd by Patriots

DT gives Texas first-rounders in 4 of last 7 years

AUSTIN — For three years at Texas, Malcom Brown heard people say he reminded them of NFL defensive linemen. He always had to take their word for it.

“I don’t really watch any,” Brown said of pro football last December. “(Sunday is) the day I really try to chill with the kids and do something with the family. We go out to eat or catch a movie or something.”

Starting this fall, Brown, his wife and their two children will need to pick a new movie day. After being selected with the 32nd pick of the first round of Thursday’s NFL draft by the New England Patriots, Brown’s Sundays will be occupied.

Brown, a 6-foot-2, 319-pound defensive tackle who earned first-team All-America honors as a junior in 2014, gave the Longhorns a first-round pick for the fourth time in seven drafts. Last year, UT failed to have a single player drafted for the first time in 77 years.

Brown, who became an elite high school prospect at Brenham, played in all 39 games during his UT career and started his last 26. Last year, he led the Longhorns in sacks (6.5), tackles for loss (15) and forced fumbles (two) and racked up 72 tackles overall.

He joins an impressive list of star UT defensive tackles who have gone on to the NFL, following Scott Appleton, Steve McMichael, Kenneth Sims, Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers, among others.

With the Patriots, who won the Super Bowl last season, Brown will help replace five-time Pro Bowler Vince Wilfork. Wilfork signed a contract with the Houston Texans in March.

Brown is the first UT player to be drafted by New England since former Longhorns tight end David Thomas in 2006.

UT could see as many as four other players taken in this week’s draft, but its next selection might not come until the fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday.

Mike Finger has worked for the Express-News since 1999, writing about the Texas Longhorns, the Big 12, the NBA and the NFL before becoming a sports columnist. He's covered 13 Spurs postseasons, six Final Fours and more than a dozen college bowl games.